Saying Yes a little more often

Let's just get the ugly truth out of the way real quick now, shall we?  I'm in a major rut. 

I feel run down, beat up, stressed out, frazzled and any other assortment of adjectives that would basically describe motherhood at times.  I feel like the daily "to-do's" are growing out of control and I have no idea how to keep up with it all.  My house is a mess - except for the 1 time a week when we invite someone over to play.  My dirty and clean clothes are all in baskets laying on the floor because I can't seem to get around to folding the clean or putting the dirty in the washing machine.  But the most tragic consequence of the way I have been feeling is that I am taking it out on my sweet little girls.  They are getting much more "No", "Don't do that!", "Don't touch that!", "Go play in the other room.", "Why are you making such a mess?!", "PLEASE just be quiet!" and they are getting almost ZERO "Yes's". 

Then I came across this post and it got me thinking.  What if I said yes to one small thing instead of grumbling and being annoyed by requests and demands?  How would the mood of the house change, how would MY mood change?

So I began the experiment yesterday morning.  The first request was from Claire while Brielle was at preschool.  "Mommy, will you play the hippo game with me?"  I really didn't want to at the time.  I hate the little marbles and how loud the game gets.  But I said, "Yes, I will."  Claire was THRILLED that I sat on the floor and played Hungry Hungry Hippo's with her - even though she only wanted to play for 10 minutes.  She had my attention and I noticed an immediate improvement in her attitude.

The next request was from Brielle.  I asked the girls to go outside and bring their bikes in off the grass.  She said she wanted to play out there, which I was totally for.  She then paused and said, "Mommy, will you come out and play with us?"  Frankly I was surprised she even asked because I normally send them out there to play while I fold laundry, catch up on blogs or any number of other things.  My initial reaction was to say no and tell her to go play with Claire.  But the baby was asleep and I had nothing urgent to take care of.  So I said, "Yes, I will."  She LIT up and was beside herself with excitement.  I spent the next 45 minutes running around playing soccer, "I Spy with My Little Eye", pushing Claire around on her bike so she could go "super fast" and laughing with them. 

I would say my experiment was a HUGE success.  The whole mood of the house improved.  I felt happier, I had more patience, and the girls weren't fighting - as much - which helped me feel more relaxed. 

I would be EXTREMELY embarrassed if someone were to come over and see the state of my house - because I have not touched a thing.  There are wrappers, clothes, toys, books, crackers, pillows, blankets, game pieces, shoes etc. laying all over the place.  But the day seemed to go more smoothly. 

All because of a simple YES.

I will be trying to say yes more often...even when it seems a little tiresome.

The Majestic Wichita Mountains...kind of.

This Monday was Martin Luther King Jr. Day...just in case you missed it.  Lucky for me this meant that Marty had the day off from his regular Army duties.

Growing up we - as a family - were always busy with projects, day trips or camping on weekends.  I loved it!  The problem now is that I don't know how to just chillax on the weekends and if we sit around all day I find myself slowly slipping in to the depths of insanity...known as boredom.  I can sit around and do nothing with the best of them all week long...but come the weekend and my mind and body ache for something to do, something adventurous, dirty (like playing in the mud people...come on now) or fun. 

This has been a bit of an obstacle in our marriage as Marty wants to use his weekends to catch up on all the sitting around that he is deprived of throughout the week.  And I want to use the weekend to get away from all the sitting around and being stuck in the house that I have been subject to all week.

So I let him have his Saturday and Sunday this weekend but put down my foot come Monday morning.  Yeah, I realize that was a ridiculously long amount of build up to get to what we did to celebrate MLK Jr. day, so sue me.

I had overheard (or secretly read on a blog) someone talk about going to the "Wichita Mountains" nearby and thought maybe that would be a fun adventure. Silly me, I thought that seeing as the name of the mountains is the same as the city we live in, they would be close.  Nope, they are about an hour and a half away in a different city.  Actually, in a different state altogether.  But hey, whatever.  I looked them up online and they looked great.  So I kindly asked my husband (with a little begging, whining and possibly with tears in my eyes) if we could PLEASE go do something - and by something I meant could we venture off to these majestic mountains, known as Wichita??

He agreed.  We went.  We saw buffalo, long horns, prairie dogs, lakes, rivers, the "Holy City" (which was a bit odd)...and a "mountain".  It was actually very pretty.  My visiting teachers were over today and when I told them where we went, one said "Oh, the hill?" and laughed.  I guess that about sums it up.  When compared with Utah's mountains, it really was just a hill. But when compared with the flat nothingness surrounding us here, it was HUGE.

The girls had a great time, I didn't go crazy and we were able to get a TINY little taste of Utah.  Me and Marty were both so glad that we went, it was a great family activity.  A place we actually plan on visiting again because it was fun and most importantly FREE! (Minus the half a tank of gas it took to get there and back).  So here are a few pictures of our adventure. 

This is the only picture of Addison "enjoying" the view (from inside her covered car seat...I'm sure she felt the change in elevation though.)

The "Holy City".  It is some sort of outdoor set for a production of the life of Christ (we think).  It was neat...but felt a little odd at the same time with all the buildings being labeled things from Christ's life (i.e. Gethsemane, Resurrection Tomb, Road to Jerusalem etc.).

The girls LOVED climbing to the top of all the "castles" (as they referred to them) and looking out over the side.

Inside the "Resurrection Tomb"...it got a little uncomfortable as Claire went running towards it shouting "It's my batman cave!  My friend batman lives in there!"

Back in the visitors center Marty couldn't help but take this photo op.  He also had Claire stand in front of it and yell, "Swiper, no swiping!" 

It was a fun little outing...one I'm SURE you all would LOVE to enjoy as well.  So, come on down and visit us and we'll be sure to take you to the Wichita Mountains.  Please.  Anybody??

Sorting out the feelings

I am starting to wonder when I am really going to feel like we are 'home' here in Texas.  There is the old saying "home is where the heart is" and when I am in my house with my kids and husband all together I have the feeling of home.  It's just that when I look out the windows, THAT still does not feel like home to me.  It doesn't feel as shocking to my system as it used to but there are many things that I really miss from Utah.

I miss driving a few minutes to spend the afternoon with my sister.
I miss the smell of my dad's garage.
I miss pizza night.
I miss the chaos of family get together's (never thought I'd say that).
I miss the D.I.
I miss Sunday family dinners.
I miss the mountains.
I miss Cutler's.
I miss having baby-sitters!
I miss going to Deseret Book or Seagull Book.
...this list can go on and on, and in my head it is. 

I wish I could say that I'm adjusting more to being here.  But really I just try to fill our schedules full of activities so that we stay really busy.  Busy means we don't have too much time to feel sad...we = me of course.  Because I am feeling particularly homesick today, I am going to make an "I Like" list of the pro's to living here, the things that I like about being in Texas.

I like that the high will reach 70 degrees next week (yes, I'm rubbing it in).
I like having no inversion.
I like that the humidity has kept my cold's from turning in to bronchitis.
I like that the general population is SUPER friendly.
I like that there is no "Keeping up with the Jones's" going on here.  It's fantastic!  
I like that I've personally grown up a lot
I like that my homemaking and baking skills have improved a LOT.
I like that the fast-food restaurants aren't super close.  Eating out takes more effort.
I like that stores are further away as well, shopping to "waste time" isn't so tempting.
           (Marty's wallet seems to appreciate this the most.)

That list could also go on and on as well...which was more therapeutic than I expected.  :)

So maybe we are adjusting a little bit...I guess I need to just give the opportunity more of a chance and change my mindset in to treating it as an adventure rather than focusing on anything I don't like.

Maybe THAT will be my New Years resolution (it's not too late, right?)

Random Ramblings

I got all energized and excited about doing a "healthy living competition"...then I got sick.  I don't think I'll win this week because drinking 8 cups of water a day with a sore throat is more torture than refreshment, and 20 minutes of cardio a day when you have body aches and feel a cough coming on sounds as fun as a colonoscopy.  I've never had a colonoscopy...but I've also never died, and I prefer not to do either unless necessary.

Some people just have all the luck!  (Some people = me)

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I invited myself and Brielle in to a co-op preschool.  Basically I was like, "Hi, you will be my friend and you will like it...and then you will let Brielle be in your preschool!" 

They seem really excited about the new friendship.

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I made the MAJOR mistake of bragging about Addison sleeping so good at night.  She has since reverted back to waking every 2 1/2 to 3 hours throughout the night as punishment for me talking about her behind her back. 

Some girls are so sensitive!

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Why has it taken me three kids to realize that if the baby has a blowout I can take her shirts off down over her legs instead of putting her in horribly uncomfortable positions in order to avoid dragging poop in her hair while getting the mess over her head?? 

I feel as though a more experienced - or smart - person should have told me about this.

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Claire has had a green goopy nose and cough for a little over 2 weeks, and yesterday she had a fever.  I had been "waiting it out" until someone called me to set up a play date for Friday!!  Since I'm not willing to let a social opportunity pass NO MATTER WHAT - because they are hard to come by since moving - Claire will be going to the doctor tomorrow.

I'm anxiously awaiting my mother of the year award.

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I'm out of OxyClean...the miracle stain remover.  For reals...it is! 

I'm worried about the stains that will go untreated today.

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Marty often wonders how in the world I am capable of being so random...is it my fault if my brain functions at such a high frequency that thoughts are spinning around in there like a food processor?  He's just the lucky beneficiary of all the randomness...today I decided to spare him by sharing the randomness with the blog world instead. 

You're welcome.